It’s more like, “they are operating off of misinformation to which their behavior is a reasonable response”. They are being misdirected so that they choose to use their agency to do this shitty thing, because their misunderstanding makes it look like a good thing.
It does feel like letting them off the hook, but punishment doesn’t create allies. This way of approaching it creates a very real possibility of them switching sides, and doing so genuinely.
“Puppet” creates exactly this misunderstanding.
It’s more like, “they are operating off of misinformation to which their behavior is a reasonable response”. They are being misdirected so that they choose to use their agency to do this shitty thing, because their misunderstanding makes it look like a good thing.
It does feel like letting them off the hook, but punishment doesn’t create allies. This way of approaching it creates a very real possibility of them switching sides, and doing so genuinely.